


Hernandez & Henderson (Trilogy to Bookworm & Toothless) (Stranger Things AU)

by CarrieWrites



Series: Bookworm & Toothless (My Stranger Things AU Series) [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, and jess loves it, and she starts dating gabby, be prepared to cry, booktooth for life, cause we all know how s3 ended, debating in implying a relationship between lucas and will, dustin is a love sick fool, in another life billy and jess would have a friendship like steve and dustin, oh and billy gets a redemption arc, oh and max is very bisexual, oh well, she realizes it after a certain dare by the bisexual of hawkins, so im working on making that somewhat canon in here, thanks to my friends, we all agreed on this, will is gay (but it isn't confirmed here just implied), yeah i like billy now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 11:00:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22494991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarrieWrites/pseuds/CarrieWrites
Summary: Jessica Vera Hernandez...is no more.Now she's Jessica Vera Hopper, adopted daughter of Hopper with her two sisters, Jane and Gabby Hopper, one of the two actually being her blood sister.However, no one, except those that were involved in the events of the Mind Flayer and the Demodogs, knows it.She's still known as Jessica Hernandez, orphan of two abusive adults on the run, the girlfriend of Dustin Henderson, and the Scholar of The Party.She knows, however, that once school starts again after summer, that will be no more.Until then though, she's going to enjoy the summer with her sisters and The Party and can't WAIT till her boyfriend comes back from camp.Sadly though, this summer is going to change everything, and it won't be for the better.
Relationships: Dustin Henderson/Original Female Character(s), Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler, Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Bookworm & Toothless (My Stranger Things AU Series) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/958524
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HERE WE GO AGAIN!
> 
> The trilogy is here and I'm proud of it already.
> 
> BTW, if you want to get ahead and read the 17 chapters out on wattpad (yes that's where I mainly update), copy this link and read ahead!
> 
> https://my.w.tt/ZtaRYxmyH3

**_MAY 3, 1985_ **

Jess tosses and turns in the top bunk of the bunk bed she shares with El, Gabby's bed across from their's on the other side of the girls' shared room.

She whimpers, tugging at her hair, shaky breaths being let out.

She opens her eyes and jolts up, gasping, heaving heavily.

Her hands are tightly pulling at her hair, tears streaming at the pain of it as she let go...

And gently strokes her temple, soothing where it hurt.

She flinches as she felt a tug, hands roughly tugging at her hair.

But it isn't her.

She sobs as the memories of the pain, of the abuse, come and haunt her, her biological parents taunting words of hatred and anger destroying her again and again and ag-

NO.

She freezes, letting out a shaky sigh of anger.

SHE WILL NOT ALLOW THEM TO CONTINUE TO HURT HER.

She quickly gets down the ladder, quickly missing the creaky step, moving past a snoozing El and a snoring Gabby and heads to the bathroom.

She shuts the door, locking it.

She searches the cupboards and the drawers until she finds what she's looking for...

Hopper's clippers.

She looks at her reflection at the mirror, the pain and hurt of the memories of how they grabbed her hair, tugging it as they dragged her up the stairs, throwing her to walls, or just slamming her face down the floor...and the sadness she has as she turns it on, the hum playing in her ear.

No more.

X

El was woken up by Gabby, who looked worried.

"Jessie, she's...she's shut off...I can't hear her."

El furrows her eyebrows, getting out of bed to look up the top bunk, tensing when she saw that she wasn't there.

She turned to Gabby, and the two sisters rush to go to Hopper.

"Hop! Hop, wake up!"

Hopper wakes up to see two of his daughters looking extremely worried and he's about to ask what's wrong when-

"Jessie." They both say, simultaneously.

Hopper gets up, nerves racking.

"What's wrong with her? Where is she?"

"We don't-"

They stop as they hear muffled crying from the bathroom, turning to walk towards the door.

"Jess? Jess are you in there?" Hopper asks, knocking on the door.

He could hear a soft hum of the clipper and immediately assumed the worse.

He turned to El and she nods, glaring at the door and unlocked it, forcing it open...

To reveal a sobbing Jess with the clippers.

"Jessica, what did you-"

Hopper stops his sentence when Jess turns her head, shocked out of his mind when he sees half of Jess' hair shaved off.

"D-D-Dad?"

El froze, her eyes on the half-shaved head.

"Jessie?"

Jess lets out another sob, shaking her head.

"I...I..."

"Hey, breathe. It's okay, I'm not mad. A little confused, but I'm not mad. Just tell me what's wrong?" Hopper says, taking the clippers.

Jess takes in a shuddering breath, looking at Hopper.

"I can still...feel their hands...tugging at my hair. It hurts." She sobs, gripping the hair that wasn't shaved yet.

"I need...I need it to stop. Please make it stop."

El walks to Jess, who flinches at the sight of her, ducking her head down, grabbing her arms.

"...Do you need help with shaving the rest off?"

Jess looks up to El, who's giving her a sad yet, an understanding expression that makes her sob and hug her.

X

Gabby and El hold Jess' hands as she sits on a chair as Hopper shaves the rest of her hair off her head.

They make her laugh with jokes and funny faces, Hopper grumbling about her keeping still or he'll accidentally cut her.

However, 15 minutes have passed and Hopper sighs, turning off the clippers.

"Well, that does it. I'm done."

Jess turns to look at Hopper, who smiles at her.

"You know what? I kinda like it. Makes you look badass."

Jess gets up, walking to the bathroom and froze when she saw her reflection, her blue eyes widening.

Her hair was completely gone, shaved completely off.

El had more hair than her when they first found her, and THAT was saying something.

However, what was done was done and Jess didn't feel the pain anymore.

It had...faded away.

She ran her hand through her head, suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious about her new look.

Maybe this was a ba-

"Pretty."

Jess freezes, turning to El who smiled at her, walking towards her.

"Still pretty."

Jess smiles, tears running down as the self-consciousness disappears for the moment.

"Really?"

"Yeah, Jessie! You look great! Bitchin'!" Gabby says, causing her to laugh.

"Well, take a shower to wash off the remaining hair on you and go back to sleep. You guys have school today so, get a few more hours of sleep."

X

Jess felt uncomfortable in the wig Hopper got for her to avoid some bullying.

Problem was...it was a straight, BLACK wig.

Obviously, some people are going to notice, ESPECIALLY the Party.

Jess could feel their eyes staring at the hair when she parked her bike, clearly wanting to ask what happened but not knowing how.

"Hey, Jess?"

She turns to Mike, who's nervously staring at the hair.

"Something happened?"

"Holy shit Jess! Did you dye your hair?" Dustin exclaims, just now arriving at the school.

Jess bit her lip, shaking her head.

"No...this is a wig."

"Why would you need a wig?" Lucas asked, crossing his arms.

Jess looked around them, noticing how people weren't paying attention to them.

So, she takes off the hat that Dustin gave to her as a gift, and the wig...revealing her shaved head.

The gang freezes at the sight of it.

"I uh...I shaved it. Hopper helped."

"Oh my god Jess, why'd you do it?" Will asks, staring at it.

"Does it matter why? She looks badass!" Dustin exclaims, causing Jess to chuckle, smiling at her boyfriend.

"Well, we are curious to know why you shaved your head," Max says while Mike nods.

"That is true, though, it does look badass."

"Heh, bitchin'," Jess says, causing them to laugh.

"I uh shaved it for...personal reasons that, I can't really share here. Maybe after school?"

"Yeah, totally! We're going to the cabin today to hang out, right?"

"Yup!"

The Party grins as they head to the school, Dustin grabbing Jess' hand and kissing her cheek after she puts the wig and hat back on.

She smiles, kissing her boyfriend on the lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess is over Mileven being over each other constantly and is teased for her small crush on Robin.

**_2 months later_ **

Mike and El were smooching it up in the sisters' room in the cottage, music playing in the background.

Mike pulls back, only to;

"And nobody wants to know you now"

Taking his girlfriend's hands, he mimics the guitar break.

"Nobody wants to show you-"

"Mike! Mike, stop! Stop!" El laughs, placing her hand on Mike's face.

"So if you're lost and on your own"

"Mike! Stop! Mike! Mike!"

"You can never surrender"

"Stop!"

He shakes her playfully, causing her to giggle.

"What, you don't like it?"

"No!" She laughs, but she's only teasing.

And Mike knows this as he smiles at her and they go back to kissing.

In the top bunk lays Jessica, her buzzcut now grown in a very short pixie cut, all dressed up, waiting for Hopper to storm in and tell the kissing couple below that Mike needed to leave so she can go to the movies with him.

She had her headphones in, listening to Madonna and reading **_Love in the time of Cholera_**.

She could faintly hear Mike's singing and had to cover her mouth from bursting into laughter before going back to reading.

He was such a dork when it came to her sister.

But she sighed, half-annoyed she couldn't do that with Dustin all month, as he was in camp.

But he was coming home tomorrow so, everything will be-

"HEY!"

She looks up to see Hopper peaking through the three-inch crack in the doorway before El closed it with her telekinesis, feeling the two move around below her as Hopper's footsteps came closer.

"HEY! THREE-INCH MINIMUM!! LEAVE THE DOOR OPEN THREE INCHES!!"

"Seriously you two?" Jess questions from her bunk.

"Shut up Jess!/Jessie, please, don't!" The couple says from the bunk below.

The doorknob rattles and Jess rolls her eyes as she gets down from her bunk, walking down the ladder and grabbing her black wig.

"El, open this door. Open the-"

Jess gestures with her hand and the door swings open, Hopper stumbling in.

He stares at the couple 'reading', and Jess sighs when;

"What's wrong?"

"Mike, stop being a little shit and come on! We're going to miss the movie!!" She says, placing a kiss to Hopper's cheek and blows a kiss to El.

"Bye, dad! Bye, _Once_!"

X

"My God, that was priceless! Did you see his face?"

Mike and Jess were biking their way to Starcourt Mall, Jess rolling her eyes.

_"It was like a tomato!"_

"Yeah, a fat tomato."

"HEY! Be nice!" Jess hissed, but it was all in good fun.

"Aw come on Jess, you gotta admit, it was kinda funny."

Jess TRIED to remain annoyed but...Mike's stupid face broke it for her.

"You asshole!" She laughed, Mike, grinning in achievement.

 _"I wish I was still with you."_ El's voice through the walkie cuts in, catching Mike's undivided attention.

"I know. Me too. But I'll see you tomorrow, all right? First thing."

_"Tomorrow."_

Jess snorts, sighing.

"Man, I miss being able to make out with my boyfriend every day."

"Well, he's coming back tomorrow so, you'll get to have payback soon."

Jess grins evilly at him.

"Oh don't you worry big brother, I'm totally going to get my revenge on you two."

"It wasn't even that bad though!"

"YOUR TONGUES WERE IN EACH OTHER'S MOUTHS, I BEG TO DIFFER!!!"

X

"You're late," Lucas says as they arrived at the mall.

"Sorry."

"Again!" He continues.

"We're going to miss the opening," Will says, annoyed.

"Don't put the blame on me, blame him!" Jess says, pointing at Mike.

"Hey! If you keep whining about it, we'll miss it! Let's go!"

"If you guys keep whining about it. Nyeh-nyeh-nyeh." Lucas mocked him as they walk to into the Mall.

"Just please stop talking, dude."

"Let me guess. You busy-"

Lucas mime kissing and Jess giggles.

"Yup!"

"Oh, yeah, real mature, Lucas."

"Oh, El, I wish we could make out forever, and never hang out with any of our friends."

"Lucas, stop," Max says, hooking her arm with Jess. "Gabby's already in the theatre saving our seats if you're wondering where she is."

"Thanks, Max." She says, grinning as she went into her mind to:

**Hey, we're here.**

_About time! What took so long?_

**Mike and El.**

_Ugh, again?! Tell Mike he needs to stop wasting time making out with our sister and hang out with EVERYONE!_

"Will thinks it's funny." Lucas was saying as Jess went back to the conversation.

"Because it is."

"Yeah, it's so funny I want to spend romantic time with my girlfriend."

"I'm spending romantic time with my girlfriend," Lucas says, going to wrap his arm around Max when Jess slaps it off.

"Hey! Back off Sinclair, you had her all day, she's mine tonight! And Mike, Gabriella says to lay off with the make-out time with El!"

"Tell her to mind her own business!/You're already dating Dustin, Hernandez! Don't go stealing my girlfriend!"

Max smiles at Jess when she sticks her tongue out at them.

"It's Hopper, Sinclair! If you've already forgotten it!"

X

The kids walk down the elevator, muttering apologies and 'excuse me' to the people standing.

Mike runs into two girls, apologizing as;

"Hey, watch it!"

"Yeah! Watch it, nerd!" a familiar voice rings out, Jess giggling as Lucas sent an annoyed glare at his 10-year-old sister.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Isn't time you died?"

Jess snorts, giggling.

"Psycho!"

"Butthead!"

"Mall rat!"

"Fart face!"

Lucas blows raspberry, Max taking him by the arm, scolding him teasingly.

"Oh, now that was mature."

She nudges Jess as they walk into Scoops Ahoy, who sends a glare at her as the Party quietly teases her and pushes her to the front.

"Go on Jess, talk to one of the many girls you're cheating Dustin with."

She flips them all off, her face burning.

"Can you guys not phrase it like that?! It's just a crush! Also, for your information assholes, I'm ONLY dating Dustin! You're just reading that I'm flirting with every girl I talk to." she hissed, before turning to the employee at the stand, the name tag showing that her name was Robin.

"Hey, Robin." she squeaked, her accent showing strongly to her mortification.

The Party snickers behind her as Robin smiles at her.

"Hello, Jessica Hernandez."

Jess blushes a deep red, tongue-tied as she attempts to ask if Steve was there when Mike groans and hits the bell, Robin now shooting an annoyed smile to him as she calls;

"Hey dingus, your children are here!"

The windows open to reveal Steve, annoyed.

"Again? Seriously?"

He glares at Mike who hits the bell again, and softens when he spots Jess' blushing face.

Local, confident bisexual is once again tongue-tied at the sight of his co-worker.

0-9.

X

He leads them to the back door, where there are halls, the Party going through them.

"Come on, come on. I swear, if anybody hears about this-"

"We're dead!" the Party chorused.

He grabs onto Jess before she leaves and raises an eyebrow at her.

She sighed, groaning.

"YES, I still love Dustin, I just have a stupid crush on Robin and for some fucking reason, I get all tongue-tied around her! I hate it!"

He chuckled, patting her head as she runs to catch up with the others.

Tough being one of the two only LGBT people in Hawkins.

X

"All clear."

The Party walks into the movie theater and into the screening room they were going to; Day Of The Dead.

As they walk past people to get to their seats, Mike says to Lucas;

"See, Lucas? We made it."

"We missed the previews."

"Still made it. Fart face." Max says as Jess giggles.

"Took you guys long enough."

Gabriella, who was saving the five seats, sends glares to all of them.

"Sorry, Gabby." they all whisper as they took their seats.

Jess sits next to her and Max.

**No luck in getting him to stop with the make-out time.**

_I swear to god, I'll strangle him AND El if I ever witness another makeout session between them._

**Shhh, the movie's starting.**

Will hands out candies and sodas, the movie starting.

The whole theater is silent as the movie plays, only to suddenly stop and the image vanishes.

The crowd groans and boos.

Unknown to them, until after they get home, that all of Hawkins experienced a power outage, due to something unnatural and wrong (they won't know that bit though).

Only that a few minutes later, the movie starts up again, the crowd cheering.

Jess is too focused on the movie that she doesn't notice Will flinching and reaching for his neck, or hear Mike ask him what was wrong, only for Will to reply it was nothing.

She just focused on the movie, squealing when hands appeared from the wall.

It was Summer, and it was going to be the best one yet.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dustin comes back home.

Jessica giggled as she pressed her back against the wall, closing her eyes as she grabbed her sisters' hands, everyone giving her a knowing grin as Dustin entered the house, heading to his room.

**Ready to surprise your boyfriend?**

_So, ready!_

**_Let's do this!!!_ **

The sisters close their eyes, each of their noses bleeding (Gabriella has been learning from El and Jess how to enter the void, and possibly telekinesis since that's how Jess learned. She's mastered the Void, telekinesis is getting there, as long as the object isn't too heavy).

And an incredibly oblivious Dustin, who now carries a can of hairspray, is following robotic toys moving on their own, as well as flowers sprouting behind said toys...as well as a mini dragon flying over them.

"It's just a dream. You're dreaming."

The kids all giggle internally, the ones without powers grinning at each other and getting ready when Mike whispers "Now!" to El, which in turn causes all the Hopper sisters to open their eyes, the robotic toys stop moving, the flowers stop sprouting, and the dragon disappears.

The Party walks up behind Dustin, who's picked up toy R2-D2, the sisters passing each other a piece of tissue to wipe their noses, noisemakers in their mouths.

As Lucas held up a sign that read; "WELCOME HOME DUSTIN!", Max counting to three, cueing them to blowing the noisemakers...

And Dustin screaming and spraying the hairspray into Lucas' eyes, everyone jumping back to avoid being hit.

A few seconds pass, and the shock suddenly disappears.

"JESUS! You guys scared the shit out of me!" Dustin exclaimed, putting the hairspray down before turning to Lucas.

"Sorry man, you alright?"

"I WILL BE! Can someone direct me to the nearest sink?"

"I will," Max says, helping him.

Jess giggles before turning to Dustin and running to him, giving him a big hug.

"Dusti-AHHH!" she yells, squealing when he lifts her up and twirls her, laughing.

"Jessica!! I missed you!" he says, grinning at her, both of them refusing to let go so the others can hug him.

"I missed you too! You have no idea how bad it is being surrounded by other couples for a month," she says, pointedly glaring at Mike and El, who roll their eyes at her.

She turns back to him and smirks at the hat, taking it off his head.

"Jess-"

"Wonder how I look with this."

She places it on her head and grins at her boyfriend's playfully annoyed expression.

"Come on, give it back!"

She giggles before pressing a kiss to his lips, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, humming in delight as he kisses back.

"Ugh, god, now I know how you feel around El and I, okay, that's enough lovebirds!" Mike says, El giggling as Gabby made the throwing up signal at the sight.

Jess pulled back to flip off Mike, Dustin laughing.

"Fuck off Wheeler, I have all summer to get back at you and El for being stupidly cheesy with each other. It's payback time."

Mike rolls his eyes, before asking;

"So, how was it?"

X

"Ow, ow, ow. Ow!" Lucas was exclaiming as he put his head in the sink, the running water cleaning his eyes.

He gets up, groaning.

"Better?" Max asked, Gabby leaning on her shoulder, furrowing her eyebrows in worry for the boy, her crush.

"Still stings," Lucas says, blinking and wiping his eyes with his fingers.

He looks at his girlfriend and his crush, his eyes darting back to Max's forehead where-

"Is that a new zit?"

Gabby widened her eyes with Max, who then takes him by the head.

"What is wrong with you?"

"I was just asking!!" he exclaims before screaming out in pain.

"Don't ask STUPID questions then, idiot!!" Gabby scolds, Max grinning at her crush.

"Yeah, idiot!"

Gabby giggles at her two crushes.

_Ugh, just TELL them you LIKE them already!!!_

**_Yeah, tell them!!_ **

Gabby scowls, turning from the couple.

**I'M TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN ALL OF YOU IN CASE YOU FORGOTTEN!!**

X

_So?! We're 14, and you're 12! Not that big of a difference!! Besides, they TOTALLY have a crush on you too._

**HAH! YOU THINK, AND I WISH!**

Jessica rolls her eyes and focuses back on her boyfriend, smiling as he lifts up his invention.

"I call it...the Forever Clock," he says, spinning the handle.

"All right? Powered by wind. Very useful in the apocalypse." he says, handing it to Jess, who examines it with Will, both grinning at each other and looking at Dustin.

Will over the month confessed to having a TINY crush on Dustin to her, and felt bad about it, to which she scoffed and said;

"Who wouldn't?! Besides, it's okay if you get crushes Will, as LONG as you don't try to force them to you or break them up with their partner."

Will, OBVIOUSLY, would NEVER even THINK about breaking the two apart, as he still thinks those two have Mike and El beat for the most amazing couple in The Party.

Besides, it's like as he said to Jess; It was JUST a crush, a small one at that. 

It'll go away.

But, in the meantime, it was nice of Jess to let him gush over Dustin with her (he always asked her to stop him if he goes too far though).

She's the best, supportive sister-figure he could ask for.

"Then, I give you...the Slammer," he says, turning it on and making slamming noises, moving it towards Mike and El.

Jess looked to Mike and frowned, elbowing his rib and nodding to him, as if to say "Be more engaged and interested!"

He just rolled his eyes.

Well, at least El looked interested.

Dustin chuckled.

"Pretty neat, huh?"

Oh wait nope, she's now looking at Mike.

_El! Stop looking at Mike and pay attention!_

El flinches and glares at Jess before looking back to Dustin.

"But this...this is my masterpiece," he says, grabbing a bag.

They kneel down as Dustin starts to unzip the bag.

"I would like you to meet...Cerebro."

Jess looked at it, confused but eagerly waiting for Dustin to-

"What exactly are we looking at here?" Mike asks, earning a hit up the head by Jess.

"Ow!"

"What he means is; Can you please explain what this is Dustin? Cause we're a little confused." Jess says, smiling at Dustin, ignoring the finger Mike gave her.

"An unassembled one-of-a-kind battery-powered radio tower."

"So, it's a...a ham radio." Will states.

"The Cadillac of ham radios. This baby carries a crystal-clear connection over vast distances. I'm talking North Pole to South. I can talk to my new friend I made on camp whenever and wherever I choose."

The kids all look at each other and stares at him.

"NEW FRIEND?!"

X

"Wait, so her name is Suzie?" Mike was asking him as they carry the equipment.

"Suzie with a 'z'. She's from Utah." Dustin says, turning to Jess.

"Girls go to science camp?" Will asked, freezing when Jess glared at him.

"Suzie does. She's a genius, but not as much of a genius as Jess is." Dustin says, suddenly getting Jess' attention and grins, shooting a last warning glare to Will before walking up to him.

"She always let me ramble about you whenever I missed you, and always said that you sounded cool."

"Awwww, really? What did you say?"

"That you were smart, amazing, talented, and beautiful...and hotter than Phoebe Cates."

Jess turned red and giggled, pressing a kiss to Dustin's cheek.

"Thanks, Dustin."

Gabby looks up, furrowing her eyebrows.

"What's going on?" she and Max asks, the two looking at each other and blushing.

"Going to talk to Dustin's new friend," Will says, grinning at their shocked faces as Lucas got up from the sink.

"NEW FRIEND?!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party sets up the Cerebro.

"Aren't we high enough?"

The Party was walking up a hill carrying the unassembled pieces of Cerebro.

"Cerebro works best at a hundred meters."

"You know, I'm pretty sure people in Utah have telephones," Max says, Gabby nodding her head as she panted.

"Yeah, Dustin. Can't you just call her?"

"Yeah, I would, but Suzie's Mormon."

"Oh, shit. She doesn't have electricity?" Lucas asked.

"Oh, that's the Amish."

"What are Mormons?" Will asked.

"Super religious white people. They have electricity and cars and stuff, but...since I'm not Mormon and I'm a boy, her parents would assume-"

"That you want to date her?" Jess asks, walking beside him, causing him to nod.

"Exactly. I like her, but in a platonic way. I only have eyes for one, beautiful, Colombian girl." He says, causing her to giggle, the Party, minus El and Mike who aren't paying attention, groan in disgust.

"Right, we get it," Max says, mildly disgusted.

"Hey, guys!" Mike calls, causing them to turn to face him and El.

"This is fun and all, but, uh..."

"I have to go home," El says, causing Jess and Gabby to roll their eyes.

"BULLSHIT EXCUSE ELLIE AND YOU KNOW IT!" Gabby exclaims.

"We're almost there," Dustin says, motioning towards where they were going.

"Sorry, man. Curfew. Come on, let's go." Mike says, taking El's hand.

"Good luck!" El says, giggling as they walk down the hill.

_Jane El Hopper, I know what you and Mike are going to do and you're being ridiculous for leaving just so you can make out with your boyfriend. YOU'VE BEEN DOING THAT FOR ABOUT 6 MONTHS COOL IT!_

**_See you guys at home!_ **

Jess rolled her eyes, annoyed that El seemed unbothered by her statement.

"Curfew at 4:00?" Dustin asks.

"They're lying," Lucas says.

"It's been like this all summer," Will adds.

"It's romantic," Max says.

"It's annoying." Jess counters.

"It's gross." Will agreed.

"It's bullshit. I just got home." Dustin says, Jess, frowning and taking his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

He looks at her and sighed, smiling at her.

"Well, their loss, right? Onwards and upwards! Suzie awaits!"

All of them groan, tired already.

Gabby looks to Will who had paused, rubbing his neck.

"Will, you okay?"

He turns to answer her when-

"Will, Gabby, come on!"

They both turn to Dustin and run-up, dismissing the odd feeling.

X

Some time later, they make it to the top, Dustin, and Jess placing down their bags of equipment.

"Made it," Dustin says, grinning at Jess, who took off her hat, fanning her face.

"Yeah, we did." She grinned, giggling tiredly.

"Yeah, only took 5 hours," Max complained, setting down the equipment.

"Why couldn't we just play D&D?" Will asked, Gabby nodding.

"We haven't played since the Tuesday a week after Snow Ball," Gabby says, the memory of the welcoming back campaign for her making her smile a bit.

Mike had spent a long time writing the campaign, wanting it to be perfect.

"I'm so thirsty." Lucas sighs, taking his water jug and drinking it all, to the annoyance of Max.

"Did you seriously just drink the rest of our water?" Max says, glaring at him.

He spits the mouthful of water he had in his mouth back in and handed it to her, causing her to shake her head.

"Don't worry Max, I got you!" Jess says, holding out her hand, focusing and...

A big orb of water appears on her hand, blood running down her nose.

"Jess, have I ever mentioned how much I love you?" Max sighs, causing Jess to laugh, rolling her eyes.

"And you guys accuse me of the flirting." She says, Lucas, Gabby, and Will rolling their eyes.

Max places her lips on the orb and begins to suck the water, quickly drinking it in a few seconds.

"Thank you."

"Alright! Let's get to work!"

X

They quickly start assembling Cerebro, all of them working together to put it all together.

An hour goes by and they're lifting it up, with a little push with Jess' and Gabby's powers.

Dustin grins at it.

"Pretty impressive, right?"

"Yeah."

"Now, you ready to meet Suzie?"

"Okay, sure."

"Yeah."

Dustin sits down and turns on the radio, it switching on.

"Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over." He says to the mic.

Static plays, Jess frowning at it, flashes of memories-

"Hey, you're okay. That's in the past. Besides, this is different." Gabby whispers to her, causing her to nod.

"Yeah...yeah you're right. Sorry, it's just-"

"I know. It's okay."

"One sec. She's probably...She's still there. Suzie...this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Gabby turns and notices the pitiful and annoyed looks on Lucas, Max, and Will's face.

"I'm sure she's there. It's just-"

"Yeah."

"-You know, maybe she's, like, busy or-"

"Yeah."

"It's around dinnertime."

Gabby rolls her eyes at their judging faces.

"Suzie, do you copy? This is Dustin. Over."

As time went by, Jess sat on the ground, laying her head on Dustin's shoulder, hoping his invention worked.

X

Meanwhile, Mike and El are kissing to _Can't Fight This Feeling_ , completely soaked up in each other.

El had a prodding feeling in the back of her mind where she communicated with her sisters that Gabby was a bit annoyed and was heading home, and Jess, while tired and worried, remained at the hill, for whatever XY reasons.

Probably because of Dustin.

She didn't think much of it as she kissed Mike's pretty face, her hands placed on his cheeks, the tips of them running through his black, floppy hair.

Then they heard knocking.

They separated, Mike, showing his slight annoyance at being interrupted but smiled lazily at El.

"Hey."

"Yes?" El calls.

"Can I talk to you guys a minute?"

They both separate, El nodding her head to open the door more.

Hopper walks in, looking at the two.

"Hi."

"Hi." The young couple says back, a bit confused.

Hopper walks in, taking a seat on Gabby's bed across from them, El scooting to sit next to Mike so he looks at the both of them.

They stare at each other for a good minute as the song continues to play before reaching to turn it off.

Another moment of silence goes on before...

"Uh..."

El looks at him expectingly.

"What I, uh...needed to say to you..."

The two narrow their eyes, waiting for him to go on.

"What I wanted to say to you...is that, um..."

"Uh-oh. I think we're in trouble." Mike says, causing El to barely hold back her giggle, grinning and giggling as Mike grinned at her.

Hopper looks at them in disbelief.

Where was Jess when he needed her?

He knows her well enough that she would either tell them to shut up and be polite or hit them both up in the head.

"No. No, nobody's in trouble. Okay? I just, um...uh..."

Mike leans in to whisper in El's ear, both of them giggling.

And with that, Hopper snapped.

"You know what? Your mom called."

"What?"

"Yeah. She needs you home right away."

"Is everything okay?"

"No, I don't think so. It's your grandma."

Mike's face falls, El looking worriedly at him and them at Hopper.

X

Gabby sighed, walking through the forest to the cabin, when she spots Mike and Hopper walking to the car, Mike asking Hopper questions, Hopper answering halfway.

She narrows her eyes suspiciously.

Sure, she's annoyed with Mike for hogging her sister all the time but, she tolerates it.

Hopper...not so much.

She goes invisible as she walks to the car as they close the doors.

"Nothing! There's nothing wrong with Nana!"

"...What?!"

"But...there's something very wrong with this thing between you and El."

Gabby widened her eyes.

Oh god...he finally snapped.

She begins to dread the absolute worst.

What's he going to do?

"Oh, you lying piece of shit!" Mike exclaims, going to open the door when Hopper locks it.

He unlocks the door, only for Hopper to lock it again.

"You're crazy!"

"Crazy? You want to see real crazy? You disrespect me again."

Okay, that one was fair.

But still, Gabby doesn't think El would forgive him if he killed her boyfriend.

Actually, NONE of them would.

If they were ignoring the time they spent in the lab TOGETHER with El, Mike was technically Jessie's and Gabby's first friend.

He's practically their brother.

"Okay? Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to drive you home. And I'm going to speak...and you're going to listen. And then, maybe...maybe by the end of it, maybe if you're lucky, maybe...I will continue to allow you to date my daughter."

Gabby widened her eyes.

Did...Did Hopper just threaten his relationship with El?

Anger and annoyance suddenly grew.

How the fuck is that fair to El?!

Sure, they're annoyingly affectionate and constantly are performing PDA, and Gabby WANTS them to spend some time apart from each other or at least hang out with their friends more often.

But she would NEVER, EVER, threaten their relationship with each other.

"Nod if you understand!"

Gabby steps back, as she hears the engine start, groaning.

God, this is going to be a mess.

X

"...do you copy? This is Dustin. Over."

Jess has fallen asleep next to Max, the redhead sighing in annoyance.

Maybe Jess' and Dustin's relationship isn't as perfect as she assumed it would be.

"Suzie! This is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

More radio static.

"Suzie, this is Dustin. Do you copy? Over."

Another pause of radio static.

"Suzie-"

"Dustin, come on! She's not there." Max exclaimed, Jess, stirring awake.

"She's there, alright? She'll pick up."

"Maybe Cerebro doesn't work," Will suggests.

"Or maybe Suzie doesn't exist," Lucas says.

"She exists!"

"She's a genius AND goes to science camp? No girl is that perfect!"

Max sits up, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Is that so?"

"I mean...you're perfect. I mean, like, per-perfect in your own way. In your special- your own special way."

Max chuckles.

"Relax, I was teasing. I'm obviously perfect and Dustin's obviously lying."

"He's not. She exists." Jess mumbles, Max turning her.

She points to her nose which is bleeding, grinning.

"Went into Dustin's mind, and the void to back up the info. He's not lying."

Dustin laughs, triumphant.

"See! Told you!"

Max rolls her eyes.

"Come on, Don Juan." She says to Lucas, and then pulls up Jess.

"Where are you going?"

"Home! Besides, Jess, you're obviously tired. Go home, since your boyfriend seems more interested in the other girl." Max says, glaring at Dustin.

Jess shakes her head, and yet still yawns.

"No, I'm-"

"Jess, she's right. Go home, it's okay." Dustin says, grabbing her hands, kissing the scars on her wrist.

"But-"

"You believed me, and stayed. That's all I can ask for."

"But it's your first day back-"

"We'll hang out later, absolutely! Maybe at the Fourth of July festival? For your birthday?"

She smiles, nodding.

"Yes, absolutely."

She pressed a kiss to his lips, Dustin kissing back before she separates and leaves with Max and Lucas, leaning on Max tiredly...

Unknowingly leaving Dustin as he would a few moments later catch something interesting.


End file.
